MakerFaire

Introduction

The Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA -- pronounced "karma") is an interdisciplinary center at Stanford University dedicated to artistic and technical innovation at the intersection of music and technology. We are a place where musicians, engineers, computer scientists, designers, and researchers in HCI and psychology get together to develop technologies and make art. In recent years, the question of how we interact physically with electronic music technologies has fostered a growing new area of research that we call Physical Interaction Design for Music. We emphasize practice-based research, using DIY physical prototying with low-cost and open source tools to develop new ways of making and interacting with sound. At the Maker Faire, we will demonstrate the low-cost hardware prototyping kits and our customized open source Linux software distribution that we use to develop new sonic interactions, as well as some exciting projects that have been developed using these tools. Below you will find photos and descriptions of the projects and tools we will demonstrate.

Maker Faire website: [1]

Touchboard

The Touchboard is a hand-made music controller fashioned out of a solid block of Padauk.  It was motivated by an interest in the interaction with physical objects and the types of gestures these objects invite. In my experience, objects that possess external beauty generate a presence unto themselves, and thus influence the resulting musical interactions.  In addition to providing fifteen touch-sensitive sensors, the Touchboard's objective is to inspire the creation of customized and satisfying software performance systems.

The Touchboard is based on sensors that detect position and pressure applied by the performers fingertips.  The controller also sports eight LED lights and an encoder.  Using an Arduino microcontroller board, sensor data is transmitter between the touchboard and a computer via USB.